2011-08-30 - Brilliance in the Room
Here's the truth. Conferences are often boring. Even when said conference is full of the world's richest geniuses. Gates. Jobs. That Facebook kid... and of course, Susan Storm and Janet van Dyne, the driving force behind StormDyne Applied Sciences. They're in the ballroom holding the mixer now, both dressed in gorgeous, one of a kind van Dyne creations. Janet's frock is a green sheath dress that shows an expanse of both leg and clevage. "No, no. You're thinking of it the wrong way." Janet explains to the owner of a firm that specializes in non-lethal weaponry. "Traditional make-up is a combination of pigments and what's essentially wax and jelly. Butterfly Wings will be a line of makeup that consists of thousands of little dots. Each dot has three colors built in. Red. Blue. Green. With a signal, the dots flip around to point one of the colors at the suface. Then it works like a television. The colors mix together to form a pattern or shade of your chosing." It's true. Conferences are often boring. But compared to the excitement of earlier in the week, Janet van Dyne's blonde partner is more than happy to have a boring evening. That this 'boring' evening is in service to the growth of their company makes it more than a worthy investment. "The prototype systems have been developed to work with customized smartphone applications." Susan explains, as she pulls out her phone, revealing the application and some of the interface. "You can program in any appearance pattern you like, get a general idea of what it will look like, and then submit for activation." She gave a similar pitch a few days ago to a young lady working as a dancer at something called the Hellfire Club. It could be a very interesting start to product placement. And Tony...is taken, right now, but nobody in society is supposed to know that. Besides. He's not dead. So, yes, he's admiring Janet's legs. And cleavage. With a glass of something in one hand, he detaches himself from the bimbo who was trying to latch onto him, no doubt wanting to tell all her friends she spent the night with the great Tony Stark, and wanders over to the two much more interesting women. Intellectually, that is. Yeah. Intellectually. "We've worked hard to ensure Butterfly Wings isn't subject to wear or smearing." Janet explains, "So it lasts all day. So, a woman can wear a modest color scheme when at work..." She uses her own smartphone, which happens to be Stark tech, to change the hues of her make-up from purples to sedate browns. "... and then something more exotic when she goes clubbing..." The make-up changes to glittery patterns more in line with an 80s glamrock star, "... and then maybe something more come hither for a special something later with the right person..." And one more screen tap to change to rich, deep blues. Susan's phone is an iKord. "We also have a reclamation wand that can gather up the Butterfly Wings from the skin, making for a much better clean-up than anything short of cold cream, and the wand attaches to a recycling unit that can prep everything it gathers for re-application. This makes a single purchase of Butterfly Wings easily a multi-year potential investment." The blonde demonstrates by removing her make-up with the reclamation wand extranded from her tiny clutch purse. Of course, she seems to be one of those women who rather unfairly looks just as good without makeup as she does with it. "Programmable makeup?" He'll have to let Jean know about this. And Tony can already think of some uses for it other than pure aesthetics. With a thicker layer, it could be...very useful for somebody who needed to quickly hide their identity. Hrm. His interest is casual, of course. He IS a straight man, after all. "Exactly." Janet says with a bright smile. "Hello, Tony. Nice to see you again. Sue and I have been told that we're going to lose money because make-up makes profit based on bulk, not cost. We disagree. The investment is larger than buying, say, a year's worth of make-up but we believe people will pay for it. We're working on other applications as well, including adapting the technology to allow for color e-Readers." The blonde of the pair turns, offering a smile to the rakishly handsome Mister Stark. She won't point out that similar technology can be adapted for disguises, or even potentially chameleon-like invisibility. But anyone who thinks she hasn't already thought of such things is deluding themselves. "Good evening, Tony. Would you like another demonstration?" "How about putting it on t-shirts. Programmable logos." See, he's got thoughts. "I know a couple of other companies working on it, but they aren't as far along as you are." "Right now, it needs to be suspended in a fluid of some sort." Jan explains. "Make-up is perfect because it is a very viscous fluid. That's why we chose it as the commercial fund-raiser for the product. Working out a way to apply the tri-color dots to a solid is our next step." "We have even secured our first avenue for product placement. We're just waiting to complete the contracts." Susan knows she's speaking of something that may not materialize. But she really feels an urge to make an impression, here. And frankly, she can't imagine a better start than Aurora and her friends. They have both the liquid income, and proessional motivation, to drive the purchase and experimentation even before they can bring down the price of production with volume and practice. Tony Stark considers that. "How about placing the liquid as a film between an opaque inner layer and a transparent outer one." See. He's not a scientist, really, anywhere near as much as he is an engineer. Janet nods. "Possibly. We need to work on thinning it the liquid, first. We don't want people leaking if their shirt gets ripped. Also, the technology would make for some very expensive t-shirts. Once we've developed it enough to drive the price down..." She shrugs and smiles. "We might be willing to license it to another company if they wanted to try, though. Feel free to make an offer, Mr. Stark." Susan cannot help but chuckle softly, smiling at her dear friend's perfect timing. That's Jan for you! "Admittedly, it is still a potential solution, and a novel one to have come up with so quickly." After all, Tony just heard about what they're doing a few minutes ago. There's a reason this man is considered world-class brilliant. "Eh. I was just shooting the breeze. I have a current project that's occupying my personal research time." CEO he might be...designer he is first and foremost. "I rather suspect you can do better with it than I can." "You aren't the only person who works at your company, Tony." Jan points out, "Though you are both the most brilliant and most handsome, I'm sure. If you change your mind, you know where to find us." Leave it to Jan to work on sealing a deal by flirting with Tony Stark, of all people. Susan just smiles and keeps her mouth shut. There's nothing she can really add to that. But it is a nice smile. He does have a reputation. Tony smiles at both girls, then takes a sip of his drink. "So. What else do you two lovely ladies have up your sleeve." "I..." Jan pauses as she glances over Tony's shoulder. "I've got to chat with you about it later, Tony. Sorry. I'll leave you in Sue's capable hands. She's the real brains of our company anyway." She pushes Sue a little at Tony and then dances off. "Oh, Steeeve! We need to talk!" Pushed, at least Susan has the agility not to fall prey to the stiletto heels fashion designer Janet insisted had to go with the van Dyne original gown the blonde is wearing. "We have secured a DARPA grant for research into power suppression bio-agents. Funding will begin with the new fiscal year. And our new diabetes treatment has been very successful. We're working on developing a time-release subcutaneous unit currently." If she can just keep thinking about technical wizardry, she'll be less likely to get flustered or intimmidated. It doesn't help that Tony is exactly Sue's type: brilliant. Taken. But Tony can't actually admit to it at an event like this, or if he does, it has to be vague. "Power suppression bio-agents?" He keeps his tone studiously curious, but he's not sure he likes that. He doesn't trust bio-agents. Susan nods. "Yes. The intent is to develop bio-agents that can be taken to suppress powers. Our hope is for a pill form, to help with mutants or others with powers that are out of their control. The project intention is for a method to help control the powers of those who are incarcerated, in a manner that does not endanger their healty and safety." She's a doctor. First, do no harm. Tony Stark nods. "Which makes sense. It also might come in handy if somebody wanted to suppress a power because it was interfering, such as for surgery." A slight relaxation...but just because that's their intent, doesn't mean some ass won't weaponize it. "Precisely." Susan offers with a smile and a nod of understanding. "That is precisely the sort of needs we hope to address." She's not such an idealist that she doesn't realize someone /could/ weaponize it. She just happens to believe that she can stop them. Niavete is so adorable, isn't it? "So, Tony. What are /you/ working on these days?" "Mostly aerospace stuff. That and a modified version of the servo system used for assisted strength in the Iron Man suit. Useful for anyone who needs extra strength and I'm hoping one version will be suitable for paraplegics." Assistive technology, in every word. "That sounds like some very good ideas, very worthwhile efforts, Tony. I confess, I've little real skill in aerospace design." Yet clearly Tony does, and has for quite some time. He has an amazing reputation in such matters, and Susan is at least aware enough to know it. Tony Stark nods. "Well, I don't have much skill in biochem. It's never been my field." As brilliant as he is, nobody can be good at *everything*. Even geniuses. "To each his or her own." Everyone except Reed. That man's brilliance often seems to know no bounds at all. She gives him most of the credit - where it is due - for their success with the X-Prize. But it was her materials science in chemistry that created the shell for the ship. And it was her biochemical knowledge that both assisted in their survival, and mastered the understandings of the powers they developed. Not that anyone knows about that. "Of course, my brother Johnny would love to get a look at your latest aerospace designs." "A look at them or a bit of time in the cockpit?" Tony teases. He's not met Johnny Storm...but he's heard of the guy. "Well, a bit of both, I imagine. But he'd have to settle for a look for now, I would guess." One thing about Susan is that she seems to have mastered the self-control of measuring one's expectations. "But if you ever need a great pilot, do keep my brother in mind." The kid's got skill.